Sunday, July 31, 2016

New Study Highlights Risks of Combining Benzodiazepines and Opioids

Although prescribing benzodiazepines concurrently with opioid analgesics
has been shown to raise the risk for fatal overdose, new research
documents a risk that is four times that of opioids taken alone, and
even at low doses. The new study was published online in the British Medical Journal (2015;350:h2698).

Additionally, the authors found a dose-dependent association with
overdose risk. This may “help prioritize how we address this risk,” said
Roger Chou, MD, professor in the Departments of Medicine and Medical
Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health & Science
University (OHSU) School of Medicine, and a staff physician in the
Internal Medicine Clinic at OHSU, in Portland, who was not involved in
the research. “Meaning, you can start by identifying patients on high
doses of benzos, and go from there.”